Capt. Tom McLaughlin

BY MARCY SHORTUSE - Capt. Tom McLaughlin has an affinity for 50-year-old scaly females with big, bulging eyes. He fights daily for their right to live, as a matter of fact. As one of the founders of Save the Tarpon, he feels very strongly about them.

We’re talking about fish, of course. Tarpon, to be exact. Tom doesn’t necessarily fish for them for a living as a commercial fishermen and charter guide, but he’s well aware of how things have changed in Boca Grande Pass just in the last few years.

He was born in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. and was raised as an only child. His parents moved to Miami in 1985 when he was just a toddler, and the family moved several places around the east coast of the state.

He can barely remember a time when he wasn’t fishing.

“I caught a spade fish off a dock in Bradenton when I was no older than 4,” he recalled. “I vaguely remember it. My dad fished, actually the whole family fished. We always lived on the water, and we were always involved in boating. Fishing was always very important to us, and every minute I could get free, I would go fishing.”

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